Los Conquistadores

Los Conquistadors

Names

Members

Heights

Promotions

Debuted

Disbanded

On going appearances

Los Conquistadores was the name of a professional wrestlingtag team in the World Wrestling Federation, with the team consisting of two masked wrestlers known as 1 (or Uno) and 2 (or Dos). The original team consisted of José Luis Rivera and Jose Estrada, Sr., but several other wrestlers made use of the gimmick in 2000 and 2003. The original costume was golden spandex bodysuits and golden masks, but later teams have varied it to blue and gold Japanese-style wrestling masks with elaborate shoulder pads while still using the name.

Contents

History

The Originals

The original Conquistadores at Survivor Series 1988.

The original Conquistadors were a foreign heel masked team consisting of José Luis Rivera and José Estrada (Sr.) two Puerto Rican wrestlers (but billed as "from somewhere in Latin America") who were used mainly to make other teams look good in the ring. The full golden bodysuits and masks meant the two were immediate attention grabbers, but as the losses piled up, it became clear they were not destined for greatness. The Conquistadors won so few matches that it was considered an upset if they beat mid-card teams such as The Killer Bees or The Rockers or even fellow “jobber team” The Young Stallions.

The sole highlight of the Conquistadors' 1980s stint was their first and only pay-per-view appearance, as part of the 10-team (20 man) elimination match at the Survivor Series 1988. The Conquistadors and the Powers of Pain were the last two teams left in the ring. They were bit players in the double turn of The Powers of Pain and Demolition, which came about when Mr. Fuji attacked Demolition and joined forces with the Powers of Pain. The Conquistadors remained in the ring for over 5 minutes while The Powers of Pain and Demolition battled outside the ring. The Conquistadores lost when Mr. Fuji tripped up Uno and Barbarian hit him with a headbutt to win the match for the Powers of Pain.

The team spent the rest of 1988 and 1989 losing to established teams, except for a surprising victory over The Rougeau Brothers in Canada. In 1989, Conquistador #1 (Rivera) started to appear on his own as “The Conquistador” while #2 (Estrada) appeared only sporadically before both masked men left the WWF.

When Los Conquistadors made their “shocking return” weeks later, they didn't look physically like Rivera and Estrada but instead looked and acted more like Edge and Christian, a suspicion that was boosted by Los Conquistadors immediately targeting the Hardy Boyz in the hopes of getting a shot at the titles. They later won a tag-team battle royal on SmackDown! to earn a title shot. After the match, Los Conquistadors were congratulated backstage by Edge and Christian. Since they were seen with Los Conquistadors, Edge and Christian claimed there was no way they could be Los Conquistadors, as people suspected.
Their title shot came at No Mercy, where they defeated the Hardys using tactics similar to those employed by Edge and Christian, especially when Conquistador Dos hit the Unprettier (Christian's finisher) for the win. Backstage, Edge and Christian (who looked like they just came out of the showers) politely challenged Los Conquistadors for a title shot the next night. On Raw, Edge looked confident as he made his way to the ring. Edge found Christian backstage seemingly put through a table. So, Edge was left to fight the Los Conquistadors by himself. Edge was shocked when Los Conquistadors put up a fight and quickly defeated him. When Christian showed up at ringside, Los Conquistadors unmasked themselves, revealing themselves to be Matt and Jeff Hardy. They explained that they had attacked Edge and Christian's hired goons (Christopher Daniels and Aaron Aguilera, who had doubled for Los Conquistadors in backstage segments) backstage and stole the costumes.

Hardy Boyz as Los Conquistadores.

As Edge and Christian complained, it was declared that Edge and Christian's title victory the previous night was official. At the same time, because the Hardy Boyz had just defeated the champions, he ruled they were now the tag team champions. After being outsmarted by the Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian gave up the golden costumes of Los Conquistadors. Due to the stipulations, the title reign of the Hardy's that Edge and Christian were banned from challenging had ended when "Los Conquistadors" had won so Edge and Christian could wrestle for the titles again without disguises.

2003

On the July 17, 2003 edition of SmackDown!Rob Conway and Nick Dinsmore assumed the roles of Los Conquistadors in a match in which they were defeated by Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman. Unlike previous versions of Los Conquistadors, Conway and Dinsmore wore blue and gold masks with exposed mouths, similar to the mask of Último Dragón, along with blue shoulder pads.

On July 27, 2003, another set of Conquistadors participated in the APA Invitational Barroom Brawl Match at Vengeance, where they were soundly beaten up by the APA. In this case, the men under the masks were Rob Conway and Johnny Jeter, who were both working in Ohio Valley Wrestling at the time.